A Serious Green Kitchen
Jupiter, Florida
This environmentally-friendly couple was intent on turning their new home into a LEED-certified house. The couple not only wanted green, they wanted clean. And they wanted a kitchen that could last. Sustainability was very important to them, so they focused on appliances, cabinets counters and backsplashes that would be likely to last both functionally and aesthetically over a few decades.
They chose the house on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean for its near-constant breeze, which allows for a reduced use of air-conditioning. The house was tested for mold and mildew prior to purchase.
The existing kitchen was extremely dated, had low-end appliances, and had an odd hanging soffit that made the space feel cluttered. We felt the peninsula wall cabinets were both too high to be useful, but still low enough to block the view from the other living areas. And while we wanted seating for four at the peninsula, the existing seating was awkwardly positioned and did not have enough knee-space for the seats.
The first thing we did was to carefully remove the existing kitchen and transport it to a charity so that the appliances and other parts could be re-used. (I talk more about kitchen recycling at the end of this story.)
Hurricane windows (also extremely energy efficient) were installed. All lighting was changed to LED. We selected Energy-Star appliances, low-flow faucets, a water filtration system and an on-demand water heater, FSC and KCMA certified cabinets, and quartz countertops.
The resulting kitchen is green, energy-efficient, functional and beautiful. It includes Gaggenau double ovens, an induction cooktop, Thermador refrigerator and freezer columns, a Gaggenau induction cooktop, two sinks, and a Bosch dishwasher.
The seating moved to an extended peninsula space, and the previous seating area now has pull-out base storage for items used less regularly. While most of the peninsula wall cabinets were removed to allow better visual access to the adjoining room, we did keep an accessorized countertop pantry for storage and a full-sized pull-out pantry. The powerful range hood now vents to the outside. The resulting kitchen is open, clean, classic, and very, very green.
A NOTE ON RECYCLING YOUR OLD KITCHEN CABINETS AND COUNTERS
534 metric tons of construction is put into landfills annually. To me, it is particularly tragic when beautiful marbles or natural stones are demolished and thrown away. If you are interested in recycling your old kitchen, great sources are Renovation Angel, Kitchen Traders, and Habitat for Humanities’ ReStores. It will assist with landfills and can earn you a tax credit. So do it.
